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Tom Reed,who previously covered the Blue Jackets for The Dispatch, is back after a five-year absence while working for the newspaper in that city up north: Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter at @treed1919

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Game 42: Bob Job

Posted Apr 14, 2013
by Shawn Mitchell

Every game that remains for the Blue Jackets will be as importantas any the team has played since its lone Stanley Cup playoff appearance in 2009. Tonight’s, a 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild, had a little extra heft. It was the first game of a six-game road trip. The Jackets can afford to lose one, maybe two, of those games in regulation and still remain alive in the playoff chase. Dropping the first leg? Bad thoughts. Bad vibes. Bad start.

But that didn’t happen. It should have. The Wild went wilding in the first period and dominated for long stretches. But this was “The Bob Show,” as Jackets coach Todd Richards called it, and the Jackets goaltender put on a command performance.

Sergei Bobrovsky saved 39 of 41 shots and was perfect in the shootout. Yes, he has four shutouts. But this one was different. He had little help for much of the game. The Wild put him through the wringer. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said he thought the chances were 10-0 in his team’s favor in the first period alone. But Bobrovsky would not be undone.

The Jackets got regulation goals from Vinny Prospal and Fedor Tyutin and shootout goals from Mark Letestu and Cam Atkinson. Jason Pominville and Marc-Pierre Bouchard (really, it was a Jack Johnson own goal, but Bouchard got the credit) scored for Minnesota. Bobrovsky stopped Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu in the shootout. Jackets win. Jackets move into a tie for eighth. Jackets hug Bob.

“After tonight’s performance, you’re going into Colorado expecting to win (on Monday) because you have No. 72 in the pipes,” Richards said. “It’s those types of things that are immeasurable to your team. Numbers wise, he’s great. But I think it’s the importance. You talk about MVPs, MVP of our team. He’s affected everyone else playing in front of him.”

Bobrovsky, roundly considered a fringe candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie, might have lightened his darkhorse label a shade or two. Bobrovsky made saves with his glove, his pads, varied parts of his torso and all parts of his stick, including the handle, negating a Wild attack that was relentless in the first period and nearly as inspired in the final two. He improved to 16-10-6 as a Blue Jacket. He is among the league’s leaders in goals-against average (2.01) and save percentage (.934).

Was this his finest game?

“I just… I was inside the game,” Bobrovsky said. “My goal was to win this game. Sometimes you don’t think about how much you do or what you did. Most important is your goal. It’s tough to compare (games). But you just work and work and you have to go a little higher and higher.”

For as flaming as the Wild’s hair was in the first period, it took only a one-goal lead into the first intermission. Bobrovsky made 14 saves in the period, but he couldn’t stop a rebound of a Brett Clark slap shot that appeared to carom off Johnson as he attempted to clear at 15:59.

The Blue Jackets collected themselves in the dressing room, then posted two quick goals. Vinny Prospal scored at 3:53 of the second, burying a no-look, behind-the-net feed to the slot from Brandon Dubinsky. Tyutin made it 2-1 at 6:18 with a slapper that fluttered past Nik Backstrom.

Bobrovsky made 13 more saves in the third. But a cross-checking penalty on Devin Setoguchi by Jackets rookie Dalton Prout at 16:01 proved costly. Jason Pominville put the rebound of a shot by Ryan Suter through the legs of Bobrovsky. All of St. Paul erupted. The postseason plans of the seventh-place Wild, shut out in three of their previous four, are nowhere near secure. They are a desperate team, as well.

“Bottom line is that’s a big point for us,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “When you’re down, and you have a goalie that’s playing like that, to tie it up late – that’s a big point.”

The Jackets and Wild exchanged shots in OT – two apiece – and it was onto the shootout. Parise shot first. His backhand ended up in Bobrovsky’s glove. Letestu went second and flicked a wrister past Backstrom’s glove side. Koivu was third, and his attempt caromed meekly off a Bobrovsky pad. Atkinson was next. Winner.

“Two points is the big picture,” Jackets winger R.J. Umberger said. “But we’re not satisfied. We know we need to be better in the first period. We can’t start off slow. There is a big message here for our team. Sooner or later it’s going to catch up with us.”

The Jackets were outshot 41-22. They had no business taking two on this night. But they did, and it left Richards conflicted. He was not happy that his team played poorly. But he was thrilled with two points, even though they came with a high cost.

Jackets center Artem Anisimov is out indefinitely after suffering a head injury during a hit by Wild forward Charlie Coyle 17 seconds after the opening faceoff. Coyle’s right elbow appeared to catch Anisimov square in the noggin as he was arched downward -- and partially turning into the blow – as he pursued a puck. It sent Anisimov spinning to the ice and he did not return.

Coyle, immediately jumped by Dubinsky, was given a match penalty, plus a 5-minute major for fighting. Dubinsky was hit with a 10-minute instigator misconduct, a two-minute instigator minor and a 5-minute fighting major. He spent 17 minutes in the box, and the Jackets netted only three minutes of power-play time, during which they took one shot.

The call drew a strong rebuke from Yeo. The hit drew the ire of Richards.

Yeo: “The way I see that is that it’s a great hit and we should be on the power play. They come in and they instigate and the next thing you know we lose a player for the game.”

Richards: “To me it looked like he targeted his head. That was a direct blow, and the initial contact was his head. Our guy is going to be on the shelf for a little bit now. That hit really affects our team in a big way. I saw it the way the referees did and I can’t imagine why they would see it differently.”

Side dishes

--Coyle got the best of Dubinsky in their tussle, but Jared Boll absolutely walloped Clayton Stoner during a dustup at 16:45 of the first. Boll drove Stoner to his knees with a series overhand rights. It was Boll’s first fight since March 28 and first since missing four games because of a lower-body injury. He’s back and apparently in fine form.

--Pominville had a goal and assist, his first points at home since he was traded to Minnesota from Buffalo. Prospal (1 goal, 1 assist) and Dubinsky (2 assists) also had multipoint games.

--Former Wild Marian Gaborik was plus-2 but had a quiet night. He was likely among the “missing” Richards referred to afterward. “We needed everyone,” Richards said. “But the problem was we were missing a lot of guys. It wasn’t just missing Dubinsky for the first 17 minutes and missing Artie for the game. We were missing guys. I know that they were out on the ice, but we needed more from them. We’re relying on Bobby way too much. He had to be way too good. It takes (away) the enjoyment, for me as a coach. I want to see us do the right things over and over again. Tonight we couldn’t get our game.”

--The Jackets (19-16-7, 45 points) are three games above .500 for the first time this season. They are tied for eighth with Detroit and Dallas, although the Stars are above the bar. Dallas has more regulation and overtime wins than Detroit. Detroit has more regulation and overtime wins than Columbus, and both Detroit and Dallas have a game in hand on the Jackets. Minnesota (22-16-3) has 47 points.

--The Jackets flew to Colorado after the game and will have a day off on Sunday. They’ll be back on the ice on Monday for the morning skate in Denver.

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